Batman Beyond, Season 3, Episodes 4-5:
Season 3, Episode 4: Big Time
This is one of the big episodes of the season, in a way? At least it's framed like one. Throughout the past two seasons we've had a lot of hints about Terry McGinnis having spent time in juvie, and the show has been surprisingly cryptic with the details. "Big Time" finally sheds some light and explains it. Unfortunately, it's... not a very interesting episode, or that well of an explanation. As a much younger teenager, Terry hung out with Charlie "Big-Time" Bigelow, a terrible friend who goes off stealing stuff and brings Terry along with him. Terry managed to escape the worst because he was underage, but Bigelow spent three years in prison. There's a bit of an attempt at some depth to this with Terry and Maxine's conversation, but ultimately, that's all there is to Terry's backstory. It's just there to give a bond between Terry and Bigelow. Which would be nice, if this episode was really all that interesting.
But... it's not. Perhaps the episode could've benefited more by playing Bigelow's intentions up as a mystery, but it's pretty quickly revealed to both the audience and Terry that Bigelow is a terrible influence. He first shows up quite literally creeping on Dana, then tries to get Terry to help him on a criminal job. Because he's a good guy, Terry actually manages to convince Bruce to give Bigelow a chance. And, of course, Bigelow immediately proves to be untrustworthy, because the audience knows that he's actually working alongside Richard Armacost, an evil business mogul that's trying to steal Wayne-Powers industrial secrets, who's also working with the Wolverine-clawed mercenary Karros.
Everything honestly plays out more or less as you think it would. Batman keeps showing up to spoil their heists, there's a fight between the bad guys, and at some point in this conflict, Bigelow gets doused with Cerestone, ultimately mutating into a hideous flesh-beast that fights Karros and Armacost, before Batman shows up and beats up everyone. End episode. And... I don't know. I feel like there's a lot of stuff that they could've explored here. Perhaps a version of this episode where the audience doesn't know if Bigelow is actually evil or is trying to reform, making Terry and Bruce's argument and the subsequent proof that Bigelow betrayed Terry more painful. Maybe a version of this where the episode explores whether Terry is more involved with Bigelow's possible redemption -- because all they had are two angry confrontations in this one, meaning that it's a lot less impactful. Or maybe Bigelow being such a huge douche makes it just a bit too hard for me to be invested in whether he becomes good or not? I don't know. It just feels like a bit of a disappointment.
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Season 3, Episode 5: Out of the Past
What's not a disappointment, however, is this one, "Out of the Past". I know the contents of some of the episodes that are about to come in this season, but this one absolutely blindsided me. It's a huge, loving tribute to the history of these characters in the universe itself, and a wonderful focus on a retired superhero like Bruce Wayne. Hell, even the opening scene, with the hilarious Bat-musical (actually performed by Conroy himself!) is really quite impactful for the episode itself. It's funny, of course, but it also ties into Bruce having to see his legacy be interpreted in different ways, in addition to being a painful reminder of what youth was. There's also a running theme of Terry and 'Talia' noting that Bruce misses being under the cowl, and while Bruce never confronts Terry about it, seeing the musical actor as that 'someone else under that cowl' probably is something that stings even further.
It's also Bruce's birthday, and it has put him in a reminiscing mood, and the show does a great job of showing respect to continuity by having Bruce morosely remember a lot of the women he's been close with in his life (though no Diana yet; this show was produced before Justice League)... and then one of them shows up! Talia al Ghul has always been an interesting character and one that I thought was going to show up sooner or later in Batman Beyond, since thanks to the Lazarus Pits, Talia and her father are essentially immortal. I had always expected them to turn up when I watched season one -- certainly they would be far more likely to survive into far future of 2039 compared to someone like Bane.
As Bruce's body can't even stomach the meal that he once shared with Talia, she offers an enticing offer -- for Bruce to use the Lazarus Pit. And it's such, such an interesting dilemma that Old Bruce has to wrestle with, and I appreciate that while the episode does moralize a little in the end (which then gets swept aside by the whole Ra's al Ghul stuff) I do like that Bruce does actually consider taking the cure. Admittedly, to his credit he does refuse at first, and only in a moment of literal vulnerability when he was mugged and nearly killed by a car that he decides to take up Talia's offer.
And, honestly, I wouldn't really see too much of a problem if Talia was actually being genuine. Bruce does, though, noting that he probably doesn't have the right to artificially prolong his life compared to others, and later gets pissed because this is 'cheating' when he exercises after his youth is partially restored. Kevin Conroy does amazing work in this episode. Of course, I would say that having someone as brilliant as Bruce live a bit longer on Earth would be a good thing, but then turns out that Talia is actually evil all along. Or, rather, Talia is actually dead all along, and what has been flirting with Bruce all along had been Ra's al Ghul, piloting Talia's body after demanding the 'ultimate sacrifice' from her, and now he wants to steal Bruce's body.
...actually a twist I didn't see. I expected Ra's to be involved somehow, or for Talia to be secretly evil. But for Ra's to have actually killed and hiijacked Talia's body? It actually blindsided me. And Ra's al Ghul's voice speaking out of Talia's body is creepy as all heck! The rest of the episode more or less plays out as it would, with action scenes and stuff as Terry fights Ra's goons and rescues Bruce. The machinery explodes, though, and as he runs in and tries to salvage the computer, Ra's/Talia is consumed by the explosion and presumably dies. A pretty fitting end for someone as scummy as Ra's, honestly.
And... and there's a lot to really like about this episode. Bringing back one of Bruce's greatest enemies to torment him one last time? The general sombre tone of the whole episode as Bruce mourns times long gone by? The absolute banger of the triumphant Batman: The Animated Series music when youthful-Bruce and Terry fight together in that hallway against the goons? Shit, that music literally gave me chills down my spine. Sorry, Batman Beyond, your music is good, but this is just so much better. Part of me is a bit annoyed that they killed off Talia in a pretty offhanded manner, but the rest of this episode is so good! Possibly one of the best episodes out there.
DC Easter Eggs Corner:
- Cerestone was previously mentioned in "Ace in the Hole", because this episode was produced before it but was aired much later.
- Ra's al Ghul and Talia al Ghul were last seen in the DCAU continuity in a Superman: The Animated Series crossover, "The Demon Reborn".
- Pictures of Zatanna, Lois Lane, Catwoman and Barbara Gordon appear on Batman's computer. DCAU Batman's other major love interest, Wonder Woman, hasn't actually appeared on-screen yet since this show was made first.
- The members of the Bat-musical include actors playing Batman, Joker, Penguin, Two-Face, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and Robin.
- Notably, Robin is in his Golden Age "underwear" costume that bares his legs, which never actually made an appearance in DCAU.
- "I am vengeance, I am the night, I am Batman" is, of course, the iconic lines spoken by Batman in the first episode of Batman: The Animated Series.
- The musical includes Batman describing (or, well, singing) about criminals as a 'superstitious, cowardly lot!', something he does a lot in the comics, popularized by the very first Batman comic in Detective Comics.
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